On 18 March 2019, the Federal Australian Government announced its plan to establish the national blockchain roadmap (Roadmap) which intends to focus developing regulation, skills and capacity building, innovation, investment and international competitiveness in the emerging local blockchain industry.

In announcing the establishment of the Roadmap, the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews, stated that this “national strategy puts us on the front foot in exploring how government and industry can enhance the long-term development of blockchain and its uses.”

In order to develop the Roadmap, the Federal Government has committed to provide both financial and non-financial assistance to the emerging local blockchain industry in the form of the following:

• $100,000 in funding for Australian companies to joining Austrade’s Mission to Consensus in New York in May 2019; and
• Ongoing cross collaboration to develop the Roadmap with ongoing consultation with private sector industry technology and blockchain experts and CSIRO’s Data 61.

  For more information on the roadmap, click here.